Welcome to Gaia! ::

Lorey listened to him, and winced at the potential yell in his voice. She listened, though, and at the end, eyes still meeting his, she backed away. The tears were dripping out of her eyes. The blue in them reflected only hurt then. This was not what she wanted to happen. She wanted him to take her in his arms, tell her everything would be alright and that he was sorry. But there seemed to be more fighting to do.

But slowly her breathing turned into something borderlining hyperventilation. Rough little hands opened up to where she could look at them. Held out in front of her, they were tools of labor that had amounted to nothing. Nothing but a slum life and people who looked down upon her for little reason at all.

"I'm not meant to have anything, am I?" she said, with a calmness so strange to her state. The tears still came, so much that she found them an annoyance. Only once she calmed herself down completely could she bring herself to look at him again.

"Untouched?" How could he have missed that? With that question posed to herself, the bitterness came back once more, unmistakable. "Life has scarred me just as much as it has you. Ever since my mother died, every friend I had has gone missing or... died themselves. I could barely hold on to the jobs I needed to live in those slums. I don't know what you're protecting me from, Richard, or trying to protect me from, but it's already hurt me enough. I just..."

Again she held out her calloused hands so that she could see them in the light of the kitchen.
"I just want once to say what I want." At the final word, they turned into fists grasping at a wisp of dream or hope in the air. Desperation was what it was all coming down to. Utter desperation after a life of hopelessness and dreams she knew would never come true.

"I want you, Richard. I just want you because I love you... I don't want to be protected, because I can't be. I just want you."

At first she thought he was madly throwing things at her, but it wasn't until the awful weight of his wedding ring was placed in the center of her palm that it occurred to her what he was doing. She stood there, shocked. What else could she do? He cried and sobbed, fell to his knees upon the trinkets he had forced upon her, and yet the final moment that she could not bear was to hear his words. He would put a gun to his head. He would die if something happened to her, a fact that hit her so hard that Lorey could not breathe for a few seconds at least.

Still with the ring weighing in her palm, Lorey did the only thing she thought reasonable. She fell to her knees as well, and with no words, took up his hand. There was a whiteness upon his finger where the ring had been, and carefully, so gently, she place it back upon his finger. She didn't want his memories. Those could not be pawned off for anything worth having.

Still without speaking, Lorey took his face in her hands to wipe away the tears and kiss a few of them away.
"I love you," she whispered as they sat in a heap of badges and money. And with nothing more profound to say, Lorey hugged him gently, gently bringing his head upon her shoulder. "I really think you need to cry. Just cry."

She herself began the silent tears once more. "But don't put a gun to your head. Please don't think about that." Lorey began stroking his neck and hair. "You're so wonderful. You say I'm beautiful? I look at you and see the same. I see more beautiful things in you."

They seemed to be pathetic, disjointed murmurings, but how she hoped they would be genuine to him, because she meant every word she said.

Lorey's arms remained around him as he poured his sorrows out and away. Her voice cooed, comforted, though she honestly wasn't sure how much of that emotion she could possibly soothe. Her own anguish was exposed already, but he was the one who needed to cry, not her.

"Shh," she would hush. "I'm here," she would say. Rocking him ever so gently like a child seemed to help some, though he grasped onto her tighter. It wasn't minded. It took awhile for him to calm down, but Lorey treasured the closeness and time to heal, because of all the people, even herself, Richard needed it the most.

Once the crying had hit a lull and they were simply holding each other, Lorey made the move to break the silence.
"All I need," she said, looking around at the strewn things about them. "All I need is right here."
Her lips kissed his forehead sweetly. No answer was needed, but if he didn't understand how much Lorey wanted him to stay, he would soon find out how good of a tracker she was if he left.

She understood then what people meant by a spark found in a kiss. There was everything there that she had ever wanted: security, love, honesty, maybe even a hint of fear.
Without inhibition, Lorey kissed him in return. Her fingers traced his features, her hands cupped his tear-stained face. After a minute or so, . though, she began to cool that fire. They were both far too emotionally charged and needed to calm down.

"We'll get through this together," she said, now holding his face in her hands, with her forehead pressed against his. It was a promise more than anything; unspoken was how she would do whatever it took to make him happy, so long as she didn't have to place herself in great danger. Though wasn't she already?

Sitting upon the floor was beginning to become uncomfortable, though what was more disconcerting were the buttons, bills, and coins strewn everywhere. A button in particular was lying just by her fingertips, soon taken up by them. Lorey placed it over a few stray strands of tan thread sticking out of his coat. She could put it all back together. They could put each other back together.
"I'll sew them back on when we have some thread. I have a needle, but I'm out of thick coat thread..."

((I is sneaking on before class because I'm ninja like that))

"You're welcome." It was nearly comical how they sounded then, so formal and embarrassed about that huge outpouring.

"Now, let's get this all cleaned up..."
Lorey gave him a big hug before gathering what was around them on the floor. Because of her astounding memory for such little details, she replaced all of his badges and pins upon his coat according to where they had been. Little fingers rebent pin backs into shape once more, and placed those back, too. Money was put back into order and put in his pocket, while buttons were gathered and placed in his other pocket for later.

A smile was put upon her brave face as the final button slipped into his pocket, and with that little weight added to him, she kissed him sweetly.

"You should take a nap or something," Lorey said, tracing under his eyes. They were puffy from his crying, but did not take away from his handomse face at all. "Or I can make coffee. We both need to just... calm down, yeah?"
And at that, she laughed. Calming down with caffeine... it struck her as funny.

And yet what they both did not know and could not have known was that Damian had just entered the building, and was desperately inquiring after their room number. He wouldn't make an appearance for a few more minutes, which was good, since Lorey truly needed a few moments to just think.

She happily obliged him. As she set up the little coffee maker, Lorey gathered what was left of the complimentary packets of supposedly gourmet coffee blends. He looked like he needed a strong black brew, so she concentrated on making that before seeing if they even had any food.

...

After much convincing and desperate pleas, Damian had been told what room number the couple had gone to. It was only through a few workers who had seen the two being friends with Vi that Damian got that far. A few tips were passed out. You could always make fast friends with money.

Standing in front of the door, Damian tried to make himself look somewhat presentable. He had, afterall, spent the night in the park. How he had gone from rich son to hobo, he'd no idea, but there were things of greater importance, and a woman just behind the door that he had to see.

With a smart little rap, the fallen son hoped to summon whoever was inside.

Damian looked up at the taller man. They were quite a sight standing face-to-face, and while this should have been where he jumped in with a witty remark, the new vagabond took the time to examine the brute.
He looked like he had been crying... his hair was mussed... and where were the bloody buttons on his coat?

There really was no time for this nonsense.

With an air of a complete aristocrat, he calmly informed him why he was standing there in a hellish state.
"While doing revealing research about the true nature of Lorey's mother's murder, my father died, and yet for all the previous knowledge and documentation I have seen with my own eyes concerning this matter, I have been cheated out of my inheritance, business, and own home."

After that long yarn, he inclined his head towards the inside of the apartment. While doing so, a strand of his silver hair fell from his tight ponytail, giving him an even more unruly appearance.
"This is important, Richard. It concerns all of us."

Lorey heard a very familiar voice, but it wasn't until she had a full mug of black coffee ready for Richard that she turned to see not him, but Damian in the kitchen.
He looked utterly wretched.

"What on earth happened to you?" she wondered aloud, though she never received an answer as he had already begun to cut her off.

"Lorelee, when your mother died, were you ever asked to identify the body? What did they tell you had happened?"
Such a sudden, cutting question nearly made her drop the mug in her hands. Damian felt sorry he had even jumped into things so quickly, yet couldn't help but notice that she, too, looked ragged, like she had been crying. He should have seen that right from the start and not said anything so suddenly.

Regardless, her voice was shocked, but calm. When it came to her mother, Lorey was rather collected, it seemed.
"I... was told by two policeman that my mother had been killed by a drunk driver. They handed me her... her ring. It's bent in on one side, so I just... I just believed them."

"Where is the ring? And funeral arrangements, were they ever made or discussed?" he persisted. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, though she answered everything anyhow.

"They said... they said that because I'd no money to make such arrangements, that the government would take care of it. They never got back to me about it, I don't even know what happened to her..."